


The Mando and the Farmboy

by kroganwarrior22



Series: The Mando and the Farmboy [1]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eventual Romance, Family Drama, Fix-It, M/M, Two Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:20:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28305186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kroganwarrior22/pseuds/kroganwarrior22
Summary: Din's first mission ends in failure being rescued by a random encounter with a Tatooine Farmboy. Years later they meet again under not so different circumstances. Alternate universe take on the season 2 finale with hints of a future romance. Everything belongs to Disney and LucasFilm.
Relationships: Din Djarin & Grogu | Baby Yoda, Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker
Series: The Mando and the Farmboy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2131761
Comments: 15
Kudos: 207





	1. Chapter 1: Assassination Gone Wrong

Din took a deep breath standing outside of the cantina clutching to the D-11 in his left hand. He was ready to do this, he was eighteen now this is the way. The Armorer's voice echoed in his ear, _'if you are going to become a true Mandalorian warrior you must learn to hunt on your own. This is the way.'_ He shouldn't be complaining since the job was set up for him in a way that was extremely simple. His target was being led to the cantina next to Tosche Station for a meeting. All he had to do was walk in, pull the trigger, and walk right back out. Why was he having such a hard time with this? Maybe because his old family would tell him that killing was wrong. Yet if he wasn't going to kill anyone why had he spent the past twelve years training to kill? 

Rather than accept he wasn't willing to kill, Din told himself the lack of specifics on the mission made him hesitate. Although the Armorer knew who hired him and who he was supposed to assassinate, she had no intention of telling Din. The only thing she was willing to highlight regarding the mission was that the time the target would be meeting someone else and he would know who they were when he saw them. Her explanation was that there would be times in the field his handlers would lie or not tell him the whole truth for whatever reason. This mission would be a good way to practice so he didn't panic next time something went wrong. A Mandalorian had to know how to adapt on the fly to survive, it was the way. So why was his hand shaking so hard he didn't trust his aim would be true if he didn't calm down?

There was no more time to left for him to debate the issue as his speeder slowed down to Tosche Station. It was a small outpost connecting Mos Eisley, Mos Espa, and Anchorhead together. From what he gathered through the locals, not very many people lived here yet many came through gathering supplies for their farms. Din had no idea how anyone out here could be important enough for someone to hire a Mandalorian to kill. His heads up display was flashing at him to indicate he only had fifteen minutes to get in the cantina before his mysterious target showed up. Unfortunately, there was a line to get inside that was uncomfortably long. A part of him thought about bullying his way through the crowd with his beskar armor, however, it wasn't pure thus he probably wouldn't get very far. Instead of attempting to sneak around to the back of the bar and maybe losing the target, he decided to wait to see if any opportunity presented itself for now.

A dark haired Tatooine local put his hands on his hips glaring at the bouncer, "When I commed, you said my friend could join me even though he's sixteen. We get all the way out here and now you say he can't?"

The thuggish Weequay bouncer folded his arms shaking his head, "I don't know who told you that, all I know is no one under eighteen can go in."

His blonde haired friend tapped him on the shoulder with a charming smile, "It's ok Biggs, I can go look at power converters next door. My uncle just got some but, you know how fast they go bad out here. That way you won't be making everyone else in line wait."

Biggs' response made his ears perk up, "Alright sorry Luke, I should only be half an hour, fourty minutes tops. I'll put in a good word for you ok?"

"Only if it comes up in natural conversation Biggs, I don't want you to ruin your chance out of here talking about me. Just comm me when your done." Luke declared starting to turn to walk away.

Normally, Din would only be annoyed that some farmboy was endangering his chances at having a successful first mission. Such a failure sounded so pedestrian and wouldn't make a good story to share with his vode in the coven. Luckily, Biggs may have given him a clue about how large of a meeting he was crashing.It was high enough profile that two kids in the middle of the desert not only knew about it but were potentially being recruited to it. Off the top of his head the list of possible groups shrunk dramatically given their location and who needed more young people to fight for them. Black Sun, Crimson Dawn, the Partisans, and the Alliance to Restore the Republic; and all of them shared the same enemy in the Galactic Empire. His mission became a lot more simple than he was first imagining, all he had to do was wait for whoever the most infamous Rebel was in the cantina, kill them, and then leave. Perhaps he had been thinking too much about specifics to realize he was smart enough for this.

However, Din's train of thought came to a smashing halt when Luke turned to face the line in order to walk away. The farmboy had beautiful blue eyes that showed he had not a care in the galaxy and a sweet albeit sheepish smile to boot. At the same time his jawline appeared sharp enough to work on the mines of Kessel on their own. Luke carried himself in a way that suggested he was very innocent in the ways of the galaxy at large, sheltered to this little dust rock. His hypothesis proved especially true as Luke was making his way down the line closest to him on his way out of the cantina. In some ways he was jealous of Luke's care free attitude assuming he didn't have to worry about if he was going to have the courage to kill someone today. Din did a silent double take as Luke appeared to be looking right at him as he was making his way through the small line. No way Luke would've been able to tell he was staring at him with the helmet on, right?

Luke indeed noticed the Mandalorian's gaze stopping in front of him briefly, "Nice armor where'd you get it? I couldn't find anything that good last time I was around Mos Eisley."

Din stared straight ahead watching the line move forward, "I'm not from around here farmboy. Maybe you shouldn't be so talkative to everyone you meet, next Mandalorian you make late could draw a blaster on you."

Luke ignored the half hearted threat handing him a credit chit, "Well, if you aren't from Tatooine you outta try the spiked blue milk on me. I hear it's the best stuff in the parsec and with it being so hot in that helmet I bet you could use something refreshing."

Rather than make a scene and punching him for his ignorance about Mando culture, Din merely took the chit, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it, next time you can buy me one." Luke declared as though they were going to make a habit of seeing each other again.

Din took a few seconds to watch Luke leave towards the shop next door in amazement. Despite having been threatened to leave him alone, Luke essentially asked him out maybe? Perhaps Din was reading too much into it due to all the hormones running through his body right now. Whether he was right or not, the kid was either incredibly brave or insanely stupid possibly both. Still, he had a nice heart and..a nice ass if he was being honest with himself. Paz was right, he was more attracted to males than females by a few kliks and thankfully Mando culture couldn't care less. As long as he could get a mission done nothing else mattered to the Armorer. His HUD flashed brightly this time informing him he only had ten minutes left meaning he had to forget about the farmboy.

The Weequay tapped his foot in irritation, "You coming in? Or are you going to keep staring at that kid like a lost Kinrath pup Mando?"

Din roughly shoved the 20 credit chit Luke gave him into the bouncers chest, "Here, buy something for the inconvenience."

The cantina had a very stereotypical interior for this part of the galaxy. Dirty floors, sand covered walls, and multiple shadowy corner alcoves to perform all sorts of shady transactions. And that was prior to taking into account the wide variety of aliens who packed the place. If Din wasn't here on a job, he would happily call this bar just like home. He decided to take a seat at the far end of the bar so that he could see who was coming and going while also being discrete. At least as discrete as he could be wearing a full set of Mandalorian Armor, it was important to not spook his target before they got comfortable. His attention was primarily focused on Biggs, trusting his gut telling him the Tatooine local had something to do with this. Din's suspicions continued to mount as Biggs chose to sit in one of the alcoves furthest from the entrance as to not be noticed. Whatever he was doing it wasn't as innocent as the cute farmboy might've made him believe.

A bare knuckle slammed the table in front of him pulling his attention to the Human bartender, "You gonna buy something Mandalorian?"

"Waiting for a friend to pay for it. Don't worry about me for now." Din told him hoping that explanation would be enough to be left alone.

The bartender's gaze narrowed in a wicked glare, "Listen buddy, I don't know where you think you are but this isn't a recreation center. Buy something or get out!"

He was thinking about intimidating the bartender when a young feminine voice came from beside him, "Give it a rest Olmek. Two Jawa juices please."

Olmek's shoulders relaxed although it appeared somewhat forced, "Ah Jyn, I didn't know you guys worked with the bucket heads now. A comm would've been nice to know you added strangers for this job."

Jyn had a grin to her face yet she was clearly not happy to see him, "It would've been I agree. I guess the Alliance hasn't really changed at all if they hire Mandalorians for extra protection without telling us. And Mothma wonders why Saw is paranoid...."

Staying quiet in the middle of the exchange had given him a treasure trove of information, maybe the Armorer had a point to not be as talkative as he wanted to be. First, he was correct to assume the Empire was probably the ones to hire him, however he still couldn't be sure which side was going to have the higher priority target to the table. What he could take advantage of was the fact that the Partisans and the Alliance didn't have a good relationship and apparently weren't communicating well. All he had to do was pretend to be a member of the Alliance until both members of the meeting arrived to decide who to kill. Unfortunately, he could tell Jyn was going to be a problem poking at his story.

She was approximately the same age as Luke although she had much more world weary features. First of all Jyn had at least one blaster under her sleeve and most likely another in her boot. The way she carried herself suggested she definitely knew how to use them effectively. The real reason the hair on the back of his neck was standing up was because she wasn't afraid of him. Despite their population being extremely limited, Mandalorians had the reputation of being some of the best warriors in the galaxy. Hopefully it was simply due to the fact that she hadn't heard of them and not because she had tons of experience fighting them. Din took the drink she ordered for him and took a deep breath to relax. No matter how many obstacles got in his way, this was an easier job than most. All he had to do was be patient for his target to arrive.

He shrugged lightly toying with the alcohol glass, "Isn't the first time Gerrera kept things from us so why not return the favor?"

Just as she was about reply, both of them perked up when the door opened again behind them. He thought about drawing his blaster immediately shooting at whoever arrived yet reconsidered when he saw what he was looking at. There were two Partisans hauling in a cage with multiple children of varying species trapped close together inside. Upon closer inspection, he noticed all of them were unconscious curled up together. What the osik was he walking into right now? Saw Gerrera was well known for his overly dirty tactics but, the Alliance weren't ones to cooperate in his behavior. There was a bigger picture here he was completely missing, perhaps he didn't need to know. All he was here to do was assassinate someone, not be a hero for kids in cages. His gaze flicked to Biggs who was just as surprised as him to see the cage. They obviously were both expecting a traditional back room recruitment meeting not whatever this was.

Jyn stood up leaving her glass on the table, "It's a good thing you weren't the only surprise then." She quickly joined the others walking in step behind the cage to the back table.

His heart lept into his throat when the legendary Saw Gerrera strolled into the room as though he owned the place. The Armorer had entrusted him to kill the leader of the Partisans instead of one of her more skilled bounty hunters? On the one hand, he was honored she would choose him for the task. If successful, he would be one of the most popular Mandalorians in the coven. On the flip side though, failure could lead the coven into disastrous territory trying to get work. They might even have to join the Bounty Hunter Guild losing their autonomy. While he was assuming the representative of the Alliance couldn't have been bigger than Saw, he was wrong. Bail Organa followed the terrorist inside with multiple Alderaanian security forces surrounding him. Between the two men, Bail had to be the one that the Empire would want dead more. He had been rumored for months to be funding the Alliance and opposed the Emperors proposals in the Senate whenever he had the opportunity.

Something about the serious expression on the Senator's face made him hesitate on pulling the trigger, "Was a cage really necessary? I don't want to be see-"

Saw interrupted him with a raspy voice, "Seen as inhumane? The Empire does this everyday to the Wookiee's on Kashyyyk. All I'm doing is blending in."

"All your doing is using hostages to get your way." Bail spat back at him with disdain, "Quit trying to claim we're on the same side when you murder innocent civilians to make a point."

Saw's voice raised several octaves taking offense, "At least I am fighting opression for a dream of a Republic that never stood by the people of Onderon."

Jyn noticed from her seat that Din hadn't joined Bail's side of the table, "Maybe it would be a good idea to finish the transaction and be on our way."

Bail glared at her not picking up on her suspicions, "I'm going to comm my contact to make sure you aren't trying to give me random children you stole from the street."

Din should be aiming to pull the trigger right now, however, all he could do was glance to the children locked up between the two groups. Anger boiled inside of him towards both of them for considering trading little ones. He could've potentially been one of those kids if the Children of the Watch hadn't saved him. They could be good foundlings for the coven if he was somehow able to get them out of here. Then again, how would getting them out of here make him any different than them? The Armorer would train them to kill just as much as the Alliance instead of setting them free. _This is the way,_ echoed in his mind again despite Din's indecision. Those children weren't his mission, killing Bail Organa was all that mattered. His hand was planted to his holster yet he was waiting to find out what would happen to the ad'ikas before he pulled the trigger.

Bail's hand pulled a comm from up his sleeve and the holographic image of a hooded Togruta appeared, "Fulcrum, I'm here with the Partisans and they're claiming to have the children we've been looking for. Could you use your abilities to feel if they're telling the truth?"

He wasn't able to hear their response since the Armorer's voice came from his own comm, "The client is telling me the target is in the cantina and isn't hearing blaster fire...what are you doing Din?"

Din felt like he was an sd'ika himself again explaining something he did wrong in the coven, "There are foundlings here, I'm trying to figure out a way to get them to safety. Maybe get them to the coven."

An impatient sigh echoed in his ear from her, "I appreciate your devotion to the coven however some things are more important than grabbing foundlings during every mission."

"But-" Din attempted to interrupt to explain what he was thinking.

She cut him off, "The client is impatient and wants results. This is the way."

He repeated the phrase back to her reluctantly ending the call drumming his fingers on the table. Of course she was right, she had never led them astray before. So why did he have a bad feeling about this mission from start to finish? Din told himself he was only just feeling nervous about making his first kill on his own. As the Togruta on the holo was demanding the children be woken up so she could talk to them, he started slowly pulling his blaster from its holster out of sight from the group. His hand wasn't shaking anymore having a better understanding of what would happen to the coven if he failed his assignment yet he was still trying to guess how quickly he could aim at the Senator before any of his security noticed. If he was lucky, Jyn wouldn't be paying any attention to him more interested in protecting Gerrera.

What Din hadn't been expecting was Biggs' wide eyed stare in reaction to the slightest wrist movement, "Bounty hunter! Get down!"

Din fired as fast as he could in the middle of the shout, the problem was Biggs had shoved Organa to the ground outside the alcove making the blast miss spectacularly. The second shot was intercepted by one of the security forces and he wasn't able to get the third off before two other guards were moving to tackle him. Just as they reached punching distance, he activated his wrist flamethrower to burn them. His insides were flipping themselves into knots at the sounds of the screams of being burned alive, this wasn't how this was supposed to go. However, in this instance his only choice was to get the job done or the coven would have to live at the mercy of the Bounty Hunters Guild generosity. At least the children were unconscious unable to witness the horror. His hesitation was going to get him into trouble though.

Several of the guards and Gerrera hit him all at once with blaster bolts sending him tumbling over the bar. Thankfully, his armor absorbed a majority of the hits but one lucky shot grazed his waist while another clipped just below his left armor piece. The quickest of glances told him neither were a fatal blow so he immediately fired back over the table to keep them in cover. The Armorer once told him that once a job really started, nothing else including pain, mattered until after the job was done. Right now all he had to do was keep Bail in the building long enough to get another clean shot on him. Over his head he watched as the bartender fled through the back door while all of the other patrons stayed to watch the shoot out. Even Bail was crouching behind some couch cushions eyeing the cage between them.

"Typical trick of the Alliance, you don't want to give us what we want so you hire a bounty hunter to get rid of us!" Jyn yelled from her own cover position.

One of the surviving Alderaanians screamed back, "I was going to say the same thing to you Sith spit." To Bail he declared, "We have to get out of here sir."

A frustrated Bail had a far more commanding tone, "Focus on getting the children out of here, that is an order!"

A member of Saw's forces fired at the last Alderaanian security personnel, "That's what you get for trying to kill us Imp sympathizer!"

This was why the Empire was never going to be defeated Din thought to himself. If the Alliance and the Partisans weren't even able to agree to fight a common enemy when it was shooting at them, how were they going to agree about anything? Normally, he would consider the shoot out a good development given the likelihood of Bail's death increased but, the remaining patrons just saw it as an opportunity to fight each other for drinks. The ever escalating chaos might complicate his mission in ways he couldn't account for. Din found himself having to fend off random civilians with his blaster as Bail started to slip from his grip getting closer and closer to the front door on the other side of the room. Din should've waited for the right moment, this was what his client would get for rushing him.

He could hear the Armorer's voice in his ear again, "Osik Din, the client wanted a swift and subtle assassination not a warzone!"

Din desperately tried to shoot at Bail who was slipping away into a crowd gathering at the door, "Well, if you had told me what to prepare for I would've been more prepared. He's getting away, I'm going to have to-"

Just as he was about to climb back over the bar, Biggs threw his entire body against him sending them both smashing into the freezer, "I won't let you kill him you schulta!"

"Din get out of there! Death Troopers being deployed to your location!" Although her helmet distortions were supposed to hide emotions, he could tell the Armorer was worried about him.

And for good reason, Death Troopers represented the best of the best out of the Imperial army. According to some of the more experienced vode in the coven, Death Troopers could potentially take jobs away from them one day. At the time, Din assumed it was a joke at the expense of the average Imperial Stormtrooper, hearing her fear on the comm made him think otherwise. Technically he should have nothing to fear since the Empire were the ones to hire him yet, he had a bad feeling things weren't going to be so easy. A strange sense of instinct washed over him and he yanked Biggs under the table with him just as the Death Troopers marched in. They fired into the ceiling to restore order but, Din noticed the Partisans had vanished out the back door. All that were left had to be dead bodies and terrified bar patrons along with the innocent ad'ikas trapped in a cage.

Biggs was sending weak punches at him whispering, "What do you think you're doing?! Hiding from Imperials is such a bad idea when we could've just pretended-"

Din merely put up one finger where his lips would be against his helmet while patching into the troopers encrypted comms, "Director, Alpha team has arrived. No sign of any priority target. Just a bunch of terrified patrons and a couple locked up kids." Unfortunately he couldn't hear the directors response but he could keep listening to their end, "A....all of them sir? But...they're asleep in a...I don't think.. Understood. Men you heard him."

Since she could hear the same things coming through his helmet the Armorer spoke in a commanding tone, "Din, this isn't our struggle. Stay where you are until they leave and return to the Razorcrest. Don't get yourself caught up in this!"

As they were raising their blasters once more, Biggs tensed getting ready for a fight. "We can't let them kill everyone in here! Help me do something!"

What had started out as a simple assassination job turned into one of the most difficult decision points of his life. He was injured, lacked firepower, and the Armorer was telling him to stay hidden during the carnage of civilians. However, all of that felt the opposite of the way. If Death Watch would've made the same decision during the Clone Wars, he would've died by a Super Battledroids hand. On the flip side, actively going against a client's wishes would reflect negatively on the whole coven not just him. With a client as powerful and far reaching as the Empire, who knows how long the coven would have to hide in the Outer Rim. Looking at the ad'ikas again made him realize he had to try to save them, that was the way, not what the Armorer was telling him to do.

Din stared down at Biggs while starting to lift his own blaster, "Comm your friend and tell him we're going to need a hot pick up."

In a flash he bolted to his feet to fire the first blast at the Imperials. Although Din and Biggs were both firing at as many of them as possible to get their attention, there were just too many of them and they fired into the cage at random. Rage boiled inside him seeing the innocent slaughtered just because they were following orders. He immediately activated his flamethrower with purpose into the middle of the Death Trooper cluster hoping to kill as many as possible. What he wasn't watching was a stray Death Trooper to his left who reached out to squeeze his wrist gauntlet shut. Din was lucky to turn the flamethrower off just in time so it didn't explode. He used the vibroblade stuck in his other gauntlet to slash the Trooper's throat letting out a growl of pain. 

Seeing more Death Trooper's flood the front entrance Din shoved Biggs towards the back door, "Move."

He was limping now and craddling one arm with tears streaming down his cheeks. As a Mandalorian he was supposed to be better than this, he failed in one of his most basic duties. Already he could hear the rest of the coven making fun of him for being a runt. Some might even whisper that they shouldn't have saved him at all. And all because he had a soft spot for ad'ikas like him who couldn't defend themselves. No matter how loud those thoughts were growing in his mind, they were going to have to wait until after he was safe. 

Thankfully Luke's speeder was waiting for them right outside the door, "Come on! We don't have much time before Tie Fighters show up!"

"Moving as fast as I...errgghh...can farmboy." Din whipped around to shoot a Death Trooper who had shot his shoulder plate clean off.

Luke rushed off of the speeder to help him walk, "Hey, it's a good thing this farmboy knows how to fly or you'd be in a lot of trouble buddy."

Biggs was in the passengers seat anxiously firing over their shoulders, "Something you aren't going to get to show off Luke unless you get moving."

Luke glared at him potentially not fully grasping how serious the situation was, "He's heavier than he looks..." While laying him down in the back of the speeder he whispered, "Not that I'm complaining Mr. Mando."

In a slightly dazed state Din let out, "It's Din.. You can call me Din."

Luke flipped over some blaster fire to get to the front seat with a smile, "Well hang in there Din. We're going to get you some help."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two coming soon


	2. Chapter 2: Future Healing, Old Wounds

He was exhausted after weeks of running around assembling a team for the rescue. Working out Boba and the other Mandalorians problems was a nightmare on the best of days, let alone when he had so much other osik on his mind. Taking down the Dark Troopers and Moff Gideon took all the adrenaline he had left while also being sure he had a concussion in the aftermath. Yet Din knew it was all worth it now that Grogu, his ad'ika, was safely tucked in his arms. Din desperately tried to keep Grogu at arms length upon their first meeting, he had no idea how to take care of a kid. However, every diaper change, every night he tucked him in, all the times Grogu had saved him with the force, it brought them closer and closer together. The last straw was Ahsoka refusing to train him with the explanation that Grogu saw him as his father. The ad'ika was his responsibility now, he had no intention of letting go now.

"You ok?" Din asked softly down to Grogu who curled up in his arms.

Grogu's usually bright brown excited eyes appeared to be sadder than he remembered, "Ooo ghoo." He weakly lifted his left hand to reveal an Imperial branded bandage slapped haphazardly on it.

Din felt rage kickstart his adrenaline once again at the sight, " **What** did you do to him...?"

Gideon appeared to not understand the threat under the surface of his question, "You saw the lab on Nevarro, we need all his blood. Today was just a sample to make sure we were right before we killed it. If you had showed up a few hours later you would've found a cold, de-"

Din slammed him into the hallway's wall extending his vibroblade against his cheek, "I'm not going to let you, or any of your friends, get within a thousand lightyears of him ever again."

Gideon made no move against him acting frustratingly calm as always, "At first I thought you were just your average bounty hunter looking for a quick pay out. I mean, if I were in your shoes I would assume to get a hefty credit sum from the Princess of Alderaan for a future Jedi. But now I realize you're different from the rest of the Mandalorian's on the bridge, you want redemption. Grogu is a way for you to make up for those younglings you got killed on Tatooine."

The statement shook Din to his core not wanting to remember those days. His first mission twelve years ago at Tosche Station left him jaded towards getting close to children in general. When all the other Children of the Watch were finding foundlings of their own in the middle of the war, he focused on taking more and more hunts to support them. It was the primary reason he hesitated getting close to Grogu for as long as he did despite the fact that raising young was central to Mandalorian culture. Din assumed he wasn't good for ad'ikas only causing them pain up until Ahsoka told him about Grogu's feelings towards him. And somehow this kriffer knew about his deepest insecurity. Every second that passed walking to the bridge with Gideon made him regret making a deal with Cara to make sure he was in New Republic hands when this was over. Din's solid rage towards the Moff made him entirely miss Princess Leia being brought up.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't gut you right now?" Din hissed seriously considering the option, what if he said he had no choice?

Gideon gave him a mocking smirk in retort, "Is giving into your anger really setting the best example for your Jedi child? I've heard it isn't good for them but, how would you know? Your no Jedi, you can't control your own emotions let alone teach him how to deal with his. He killed two of my men the first night. Is that the way a Jedi acts now?"

If this hadn't been one of the worst few days in his life, Din would've been able to blow off Gideon's constant attempts at getting under his armor. Today though wasn't a lucky day for Gideon, thus the vibroblade assisted punch shouldn't have been a surprise. On some level he knew Gideon was right, but as a Mandalorian Din was supposed to know everything his ad'ika needed for adulthood. Essentially Gideon called him an inadequate father, one of the worst insults that could've been thrown at him. So when Gideon landed on the ground, Din punched him over and over again each time leaving a cut on his face. What disturbed him most was the fact that the Moff was laughing through the entire assault to his face. He had a sinking feeling this was exactly what Gideon wanted for some reason. Ultimately, the sounds of Grogu crying in his lap made Din stop in his tracks. His desire for vengeance was so great that Din hadn't been thinking about how he was holding Grogu.

Din jolted across the slippery floor so he could do his best to console Grogu, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Buir's here shhh shhh shh sh..."

Gideon slowly pulled himself up to a sitting position, "Heh...how touching. The green pointy eared bastard doesn't want you to become a murderer. What he doesn't understand is that you're a savage just like the rest of them, you just hide it better."

The elevator door opened and Cara stormed out before Din could answer him, "Another word out of you and I'm going to kill you myself. Din come on, Bo's waiting for you on the bridge."

He stood up to follow them in silence as a sense of shame washed over him. How could he have been so careless not to think about Grogu's well being in the heat of the moment like that? Din thought about when he told Cobb Vanth Grogu had seen much worse than a bar fight in the middle of a cantina. Although he had seen and experienced some rough moments, he had also been exaggerating in order to intimidate the man. Looking back, this was really the first time he could think of that Grogu had seen him attack on pure anger where no self defense was involved. How was he going to explain to a toddler that he couldn't communicate with that what he did to Gideon was wrong? It made his stomach twist in knots at the possibility the Moff was right about his inability to raise Grogu no matter how much he cared about him. Those fears were going to have to wait until after this was all over Din decided as the turbolift to the bridge opened up.

What Din saw there made him more uncomfortable than he was before as well as seeing what Gideon meant when he referred to Bo as a savage. Not a single member of the Imperial bridge crew was alive to be taken as a hostage. Din partially understood that the crew had probably been unwilling to surrender and this had to be done. Throughout his time with Grogu, Din had to kill his fair share of Stormtroopers to protect both of them. That being said, whenever he had an officer cornered, he gave them the opportunity to get out of his way peacefully. If she was still in his ear, the Armorer would've told him that going on the journey to become a buir had made him soft. There was a reason hunters renounced their careers when they became parents in the Children of the Watch. Then again seeing this destruction in his face made him question whether or not Bo was further extreme than he had been led to believe. Either way Din found it very unsettling having to walk over Imperial corpses to get closer to the future Mandalore.

Din made a show of shoving Gideon to his knees with Cara's help in front of Bo, "I got you what you wanted, I'm out of this little crusade of yours."

She regarded him for just a few seconds prior to getting into Moff Gideon's face, "Remember me Moff...?"

Despite being battered multiple times now Gideon was still had the same calm demeanor, "Of course I remember a self important arrogant schulta such as yourself. I'm afraid you won't get the satisfaction of having a glorious fight with me though."

Bo shrugged taking a few steps away from him, "The creed says nothing about it being an even duel. Just one to the death." She glanced to Din and Cara while putting her helmet on, "Uncuff him, I'll deal with this once and for all taking the darksaber from his dead hands."

Unfortunately, Cara appeared to hesitate, "Wait a minute, you said that New Republic authorities could have him after you were done getting the saber off of him. Going back on your word now?"

Bo sounded impatient putting both hands on her hips, "I never guaranteed what condition he would be in when I was done with him. I'm sure your government can get some useful information off of the body."

Just as Cara started to raise her repeater blaster, Din put a hand on her shoulder, "Cara, we've both had a long day and all I want to do is get Grogu someplace safe. Can you just drop it? Please?"

After a few seconds of Grogu giving her a saddened face she slowly relented, "Alright but this is the last time I'm doing you a favor. Without valuable Imperial intelligence, I could get in a lot of trouble for letting Mayfield go free."

Gideon chuckled in amusement smirking at Bo, "It doesn't matter anyway, I don't have it. I seemed to lose it to your companion here."

Not knowing the significance of what was going on here Din explained, "I got it off him in our fight downstairs. Used it to make sure he didn't try anything on the way back here."

All Bo had to say was two words, "You **what?** "

The silence that followed the question made him realize this wasn't something that was going to be easily swept under the rug. All Mandalorian clans had some sentimental value placed on different items related to the clan. For example, the Children of the Watch placed extra importance on the Armorer's smithing equipment. However, after Bo not so gently informed him that his clan was more of a cult than accurate representations of modern day Mandalore, he assumed the attachment to items also fit under that umbrella. The truth appeared to be that he instead became Mandalore for all of the clans when he took the saber. He was a backwards idiot from the deep Outer Rim territories when it came to official Mandalorian politics. Seeing the pure glee on Gideon's bloody face convinced him all of this was a plot to sabotage Bo's efforts to reclaim the Mandalorian throne and Din played right into his hand.

Immediately Din offered her the weapon in his outstretched free hand, "Take it, I yie-"

Bo's ally Kosa, Kova, he couldn't remember at the moment quickly interrupted him, "No! You don't know what your doing!"

Gideon continued to laugh while Bo glared at her friend for stopping him, "Hahahaha...hahahaha. Din the only way one can become Mandalore is by killing the previous owner of the darksaber in open combat."

Cara had a confused expression on her face, "But you didn't kill her and yet she can't claim the title? How does that make any sense?"

Gideon patiently informed her, "Our struggle for Mandalore never technically ended. We were separated in the middle of our fight and I've kept the darksaber for safekeeping." He glanced up at Bo, "You should be thanking me, if it wasn't for me the saber would be lost forever and your people could never rally behind a single leader."

Din's mind was trying to work out a solution that didn't get anyone innocent killed, "Why don't I just shoot him in the head right now and give you the saber? No one would know, and you have my word I would lie for you."

Bo folded her arms over her chest in anger, "Like I had your word you would just bring him to me?"

"He's here isn't he?" Cara demanded thankfully jumping to his defense.

Gideon filled the silence with a continued mocking attitude, "You don't think he's watching Katan? What do you think will happen if you lie twice to get the saber? The first time cost you Mandalore, who knows what strike two would bring."

Seeing as Bo remained silent, Din tilted his attention to Gideon, "Who's watching...?"

The Imperial's finger pointed to a camera on the ceiling, "Someone far more important than you or me. A true visonary who will bring about an Empire reborn."

Bo having apparently made up her mind got in Din's face close enough for their helmets to almost touch, "You know, I can't believe I trusted you to just take the kid and be out of my way. I should've known you would want to become Mandalore, you were indoctrinated to overthrow the legitimate government after all. Put the kid down."

While his brain was trying to come up with ways to defend himself, the last sentence sounded like it was a threat. Did she truly believe he intentionally stole the darksaber to undermine her? How was he supposed to know that keeping the weapon on Gideon's person was so important? They might disagree on everything else in the entire galaxy yet, he could see where the Moff was coming from in his earlier descriptions of Bo. She was so obsessed with retaining her rule that she was willing to kill a man in front of his ad'ika to gain power. Cult or not, that wasn't how Mandalorians were supposed to treat each other. On a normal day Din was confident he could force them to a draw so they could talk out a solution. Right now though his head was still raddled and his reactions weren't as fast as they should've been. He made no sudden movements keeping a curious Grogu in his arms wondering how far Bo was willing to go.

Fennec who had been staying completely silent until now spoke up to cut the tension, "Your disagreement is going to have to wait, Dark Troopers are on their way back to the cargo hold."

Din was happy to take the opportunity to ignore Bo, "How many are we talking?"

"All of them." Fennec replied simply putting her helmet back on.

Gideon glanced to the camera and then the room at large, "It seems my commanding officer has decided our time is up.... A shame, I thought my objective was artfully done."

Cara once again got in his face to question him, "Tell us who your working for. Now."

Bo was the one who answered for him, "A Chiss named Thrawn, he thinks he can bring the Empire back to it's former glory days. Yet he spends most of his time meddling in affairs that don't concern him."

Gideon sneered trying to relax in a corner of the room, "Maybe if you didn't make them so easy to meddle in he would go elsewhere."

The sounds of durasteel crashing together as the Dark Troopers made their way back inside the ship caused Grogu to cuddle up closer against his armor. If he had to guess the kid could feel all of their fear knowing how many enemies were coming for them. One of them alone had given Din a concussion, at least a dozen were enough to kill each and every one of them no matter how much beskar his vode were wearing. Still Din was determined to fight like hell to keep Grogu safe for as long as possible. Looking down he was about to reassure him everything was going to be ok yet, those brown eyes wouldn't look at him as though he was afraid of him. Maybe it was anger instead for letting him get captured and experimented on. Either way his heart was breaking knowing Grogu didn't want to come to him for comfort.

As everyone else moved to place anything they could in front of the door, Din moved to sit his ad'ika down in the captain's chair at the back of the bridge. "Grogu?" When the childs eyes looked at him he continued, "I know I haven't always been the best buir to you, you've seen and heard things you shouldn't have had to. We're always on the move, you've gotten hurt but-"

Cara yelled from the doorway, "We could use your help up here."

"Give me a second!" Din demanded not knowing if this was going to be the last time he talked to his son, "But... I want you to know that I love you Grogu. And I am going to fight as long as I have to so that your safe and happy. Understand?"

Grogu didn't immediately respond staring right into his eyes beneath the helmet. It was times like these Din wished Grogu knew how to talk so they could communicate conventionally, hopefully they would have time for that someday. Just as he started to stand up, a T65 X-Wing fighter zipped by the bridge's viewport heading towards the hangar bay. At first he assumed it was one of the two Outer Rim agents who appeared to be following him everywhere these days. Cara must've thought something similar making a mocking comment about there only being one person. However, once he saw Grogu's ears perk up in the direction of the ship, Din knew this had to be the Jedi that Grogu reached out to on Tython. Din had been dreading this day ever since Ahsoka turned him away, he didn't want to let Grogu go now. Perhaps it was better this way, if Grogu wanted to leave he should be able to no matter how much it would hurt him to see the kid go.

The group gathered around one of the bridge's security feeds to watch the Jedi in action and once again Din was impressed. Ahsoka had been a fast opponent darting around the battlefield to get the job done, this mysterious Jedi was far slower and more deliberate in the way he swung his glowing green blade. That didn't make him anymore vulnerable than she was he noted to himself watching the saber carving a path of destruction through the Dark Troopers. Whenever he seemed to be exposed on a flank, the Jedi would use the force to throw a random object into the flank. Surprisingly, when Din glanced to Grogu he noticed those brown eyes were welling up with tears. His fear of the vid screen gave him pause wondering what the motivations of this Jedi were. He certainly wasn't going to hand Grogu over immediately to the Jedi now.

A second surprise came when it was Cara who was laughing and moving things away from the door, "By the force, I never thought I'd see General Luke kriffing Skywalker in my day. Wow."

Din blinked a few seconds still recovering from the shock of seeing her be the trusting one between the two of them only to register he recognized the name. Luke Skywalker had been the cute farmboy he had met during his very first job. In fact, after the immediate aftermath of Tosche Station, Luke had taken him to his aunt and uncles place to heal. No way was that sweet innocent sixteen year old turn into the obviously practiced Jedi in the live feed in front of them. That being said the hood shielding his face made it impossible to see who the person was and Cara was acting awfully sure about his identity regardless of what he thought. Technically it was possible this was another Luke Skywalker, although, Din knew it was a very strange name to have. When the door finally opened and the Human pulled his hood down Din's heart jumped into his throat at the sight of the same Luke he had met a few years before the war.

Although the man had obviously been through a lot, his bright blue eyes still had the same sweet charming energy they used to, "That's some nice armor, where'd you get it?"

Refusing to believe he could be remembered after such a long time, Din cleared his throat, "Nevarro. You're the Jedi then.."

A sense of dread washed over him as Luke kneeled down to make eye contact with his ad'ika, "I am a Jedi yes. And you must be Grogu. It's nice to meet you."

Grogu was still hesitant to look at either of them prompting Din to explain, "He's been through a lot and...I think he might be afraid of everything after getting experimented on."

Luke gave Din a sympathetic smile, "Not exactly. He's afraid your going to hate him. Grogu, that doesn't sound like the man standing before me, or how you talked about him on Tython."

Din's adrenaline spiked again as he was very alarmed, "Why would you think that?!" His heart was going to break into a thousand pieces.

Just like when he was forced to watch Grogu being taken away from him by the Dark Troopers, Din was beginning to panic. He should've known he wasn't cut out for being a buir, the coven certainly didn't give him any real experience. His first assumption was he wouldn't have to be, after Ahsoka came and went he decided he was going to have to wing it and hope for the best. Neither of those were good enough options if Grogu believed he hated him. Did he think Din willingly gave him up to the Empire? No matter what Luke wanted to do with him, Din decided he had to make things right with Grogu before he potentially left his life forever.

Luke glanced over to him with solemn understanding, "He thinks if he trains to be a Jedi you'll want nothing to do with him because you're a Mandalorian. For thousands of years we have been enemies so..."

Din tuned him out taking his helmet off so that they could make eye contact, "No...Grogu I..." He paused trying to come up with the right words, "When I met you I knew I was going to have to make a choice. I threw my old life away to protect you, because I love you as my own blood." He tapped his shoulder gauntlet, "We're clan Mudhorn remember? I haven't always been great at showing my feelings I know..but...I was scared I wouldn't be able to let you go if I cared too much. I got you something."

Even before he pulled the Razorcrest's control panel ball out of his pocket, Grogu lit up upon seeing his face and rushed over to him to hug his neck. Din gently held him doing his absolute best to not burst into tears realizing what he missed out on, what he was going to miss out on. Of all the people in the universe Grogu loved and trusted him more than anyone else and he had done his best to shun that until right now. The broad tiny tooth smile and innocent doughy brown eyes looking at his real face was enough to make tears well up in his own. Instead of being able to take care of him for the rest of his life, Din was going to have to ruin the moment to hand him Luke in the next few minutes.

Luke's voice was gentle and sweet still sitting next to them both, "I can see why he likes you so much."

"Why?" Din asked only to blush softly when he saw Luke studying his features closely.

Luke was grinning slowly floating the ball into Grogu's claw like grip, "Your heart is one of the purest I've come across in a long time. Whenever you say something you mean every word. And you genuinely care about Grogu."

"How could I not?" Din asked bluntly while smiling into that unconditionally loving gaze. "W...where will you take him?"

Luke was extremely relaxed as though they weren't discussing custody of a child, "I'm not planning on taking him anywhere, because he's exactly where he belongs. With his family."

Din let out an irritated sigh wishing he wasn't so torn over the situation. On the one hand, his journey across the galaxy felt like it was utterly pointless if both Jedi weren't interested in training him. How many people had died to get them to this specific moment? Not only that, but like it or not Grogu had powers he would never understand or ever have. There was no way he was going to be able to train him to control them like a Jedi would. Wasn't it a bad idea to leave those powers unchecked for any purpose? On the other hand though, Din felt a flood of relief flow through him at the possibility this wouldn't be goodbye. It might have been totally selfish but, every second Grogu was missing felt like a moment he was missing a part of himself.

"I know we're attached to each other and that's a bad thing for a Jedi but, he needs training. I don't know how to do that." Din explained feeling heartbroken the best option was to let him go with Luke.

The Jedi placed his human hand on his shoulder with a twinkle in his eye, "The old Jedi used to believe that yes. They would even take children younger than Grogu away from their parents to prevent a bond forming. And look how well that turned out for them? Your right to say Grogu needs training, he is strong in the force, but he has to be ready for it."

Gideon just had to say something to ruin the moment, "You're making a mistake Skywalker! The Empire won't stop until they have every last drop of his blood. If you think a failure of a Mandalorian will keep him safe you're more of a fool than I thought."

Din considered shooting him yet Luke stood up and spoke with pure confidence, "The New Jedi Order will never allow the Emperor or any manifestation of the dark side to return. I make this vow as the last Jedi, sworn to bring peace and justice to the New Republic."

"You aren't the last Jedi." Din blurted out before thinking about the fact that Gideon was listening.

Luke put both hands in front of him and clasped them together, "I realize I won't be for long but I wouldn't qualify Grogu as a Jedi yet."

Unfortunately Gideon already appeared to know about Ahsoka judging by his response, "He's not talking about the child Skywalker. A Padawan named Ahsoka Tano survived Order 66 and is still out there somewhere."

Out of nowhere a silver and blue astromech droid gave multiple urgent beeps and whistles behind Luke, "Alright Artoo, hahaha, calm down we'll leave in a minute." He looked up to Din with a serious expression, "Is that true?"

Din stared down at the ground still feeling weird about sharing eye contact with anyone besides Grogu, "Yes, I forgot her while I was searching for a Jedi. She said she wouldn't train him because of our attachment and sent us to Tython, apparently to look for you."

Luke actually had a puzzled expression on his face, "Oh, forgive me then. I just assumed Grogu told you where to go."

The first thought that Din bad was to abruptly ask how Grogu was supposed to do that. If the farmboy hadn't noticed Grogu wasn't your typical talkative little ad'ika asking about everything. However, snapping at him wasn't the nicest things to do so he bit his tongue which gave him time to actually think about it. Ahsoka and Luke had been able to communicate with him through the force meaning Grogu in theory could speak. So why wouldn't he be able to talk out loud if he knew basic? Perhaps he was pushing his luck to keep the kid by continuing to ask Luke questions yet this seemed to important to just let go. It was possible he was going to have to see a medical droid to deal with a speech problem. How many credits would that cost...?

He rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed he might've missed something else that was wrong, "Grogu doesn't talk to me. I don't know anything about his species development so I thought that was normal for his age."

Luke stepped forward with some concern on his face, "He wouldn't stop talking to me about you in the force... Why don't you want to talk out loud Grogu?" After a moment of Luke touching his head he let out an, "Oh..."

"What? What's oh mean?" Din asked in a slight panic like the concerned parent he was.

For the first time Luke's facial features shifted highlighting a profound sadness, "You had no idea what was happening Grogu... Don't hold yourself responsible for wanting to play with a friend. You're safe now with family, you don't have to hide anymore."

Din didn't want to sound too impatient but he didn't like how Jedi could talk in riddles, "Did something bad happen to him...? During the assault on the temple?"

Luke closed his eyes again appearing to be in pain for a few seconds, "When my father attacked the temple Grogu and some of the other younglings were hidden in the library. Grogu wasn't old enough to understand what was happening and assumed he was playing hide and go seek. He was close to one of the clones who acted as security and asked if he wanted to play something else with him. The Mandalorian clone was killed by my father for defecting trying to defend the students. You can imagine what happened next. You remind him of his friend and he doesn't want to see you hurt."

Din needed a drink, a strong one at that after hearing his experience. It brought him back to his own earliest memories during the war, losing his own parents. Those were some of the hardest times of his life and he had never felt responsible for the others deaths in that village. He decided to hold Grogu closer rocking him back and forth not knowing what else to do. How could he explain to a child that a: it wasn't his fault and b: talking wouldn't result in getting everyone he knew killed? The Armorer would've just said something about suffering making him stronger that it was the way. More and more though with his own ad'ika he understood she was a terrible buir for them. He was eventually going to have to talk to someone, and while Din had no intentions of rushing it, he did want to make him feel better.

Thankfully Luke seemed to have an idea, "Why don't you try while I'm still here? I'll protect Din but I promise nothing bad will happen."

His brown eyes bounced between Luke and Din resulting in the latter saying, "Don't be afraid. I'm not going anywhere."

Grogu's voice had to be one of the sweetest most innocent voices in the universe to Din, "Daddy?"

He was desperately going to have to try to not cry again, "Yes Grogu?"

"Love you I do!" He declared with a grin and a giggle.

Din placed his forehead against Grogu's in a Keldabe kiss, "I love you too ad'ika."

Luke slowly started to pull himself away from them to the turbolift, "When you're ready, there's a place for you in my future academy Grogu. Din? You still owe me that drink one of these days."

Din blushed at the revelation Luke remembered him from back on Tatooine, "How will I find you?"

Luke put a hand out in front of the doors so it wouldn't close, "Well, I assume I'll see you at the medal ceremony on Coruscant in a few weeks..."

"What medal ceremony?" Din and Cara asked at the same time.

Luke merely tilted his head towards Gideon, "You caught one of the most wanted Imperial Moffs in New Republic databases. You're going to be heroes."

Din had to let his gratitude out the best way he could think of, "May the force be with you Luke."

Luke started to let the door close yet he was beaming back at him, "This is the way."

He had no idea what was going to happen next, other than he had a very cute farmboy from Tatooine watching his back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone for the remarkable feedback I received for this piece! It really made day. If you enjoyed my work here you can look at my current ST fix it on my page. While different, the writing style and philosophy about the characters is the same! Let me know if you guys would want more of this particular pairing in a more smutty fic.


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